December 09, 2005
A Rocket In Queens?
In the Baseball Crank's roundup of the Winter meetings, he had this to say:
Gee, what were the odds that things would end badly for Roger Clemens in Houston, and over money? I still say, as I've said for the past six years, that this ends with Clemens trying to go into Cooperstown in a Devil Rays hat . . . much as I hate to say so, Clemens owes it to baseball to keep pitching. You can't retire while you're that good, you just can't.
Now, whether I'd take him as a Met is another matter. I guess I could hold my nose, and it would be amusing to have a Clemens/Pedro 1-2 punch. But in all seriousness, I'd bet it's probably the Rangers who win out here.
I think Dan is right on Rocket's ultimate destination, but the possibility of seeing Clemens in a Mets uniform is too delicious not to contemplate some more.
First, the move would provide some nice symmetry to his career, as Clemens was originally drafted by the Mets out of high school before he decided to attend the University of Texas.
For Mets fans. seeing Clemens land in Queens would be cause for a cognitive dissonance alert. While Mike Piazza might be gone, the hate for Clemens still lingers. And if he was anything less than superhuman at Shea, New York fans would be less than charitable.
Then again, that sounds like a challenge that Clemens would welcome.
But the most exciting prospect of Clemens playing for the Mets would be the upset it would cause in the Bronx. With the abrupt cancellation of his retirement to join the Astros, Clemens became an object of "hateration" in Yankees Nation. And seeing Clemens in a Mets uniform would send George Steinbrenner over the edge, driving him to take complete control of every aspect of the ballclub -- with predictable results.
If you're a New York sportswriter, you're absolutely praying for this to happen. Which of course means that there isn't a prayer that it could.
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07:45 AM